A number of German, French and Italian associations and laboratories joined hands and set up the European Research and Rubber Laboratories (ERRLAB) R&D platform in late January. The initiative is aimed at sharing resources and expertise to provide a better and more complete technical service to the European rubber manufacturing industry, particularly to small- and medium-sized enterprises.

ERRLAB’s founders and members are Assogomma (Milan / Italy; www.federazionegommaplastica.it), the Syndicat National du Caoutchouc et des Polymeres (SNCP, Vitry sur Seine / France; www.lecaoutchouc.com), Germany’s Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie (wdk, Frankfurt; www.wdk.de), the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA, Brussels / Belgium; www.etrma.org), the German Institute of Rubber Technology DIK (Hannover; www.dikautschuk.de/english), the French Rubber and Plastics Research and Testing Laboratory LRCCP (Vitry-sur-Seine; www.lrccp.com) as well as the Italian rubber laboratory Cerisie (San Giuliano Milanese; www.cerisie.it).